Too Late, Guardian: I Choose Him Now

“I rushed through the freezing rain to deliver medicine to Derrick Harmon, my guardian and the man I had secretly loved for ten years. But the door was opened by a famous supermodel wearing his dark silk robe. Derrick looked at my soaking wet clothes, casually dismissed her as a "casual fling," and sent me back out into the storm. Later that night, his niece and her rich friends cornered me at a club, loudly mocking my secret crush and calling me a disgusting parasite who tried to seduce her own guardian. When I slapped one of them for dragging Derrick's reputation through the mud, Derrick suddenly appeared. He didn't ask what happened or why I was trembling. He just looked at me with piercing disappointment. "Apologize to them. Don't make me more disappointed than I already am." I stared at him in sheer disbelief. I had spent my entire youth devoted to him, and I had just risked everything to defend his honor, yet he condemned me without a single question. Even after the club's security footage proved my innocence, he merely stood there as his model girlfriend arrived to kiss him in front of everyone. The quiet, hopeless devotion I had held onto for a decade finally shattered into dust. I turned my back on his sudden, desperate apologies and looked up at Julian, my untouchable, billionaire cousin who had silently shielded me the entire night. "Can we go now?" I asked, choosing to step into his car and walk away from Derrick forever.”